JOHN DOE 1234 Home Ave, NY, USA 00005 Home: (123) 456-7890 / Work: (123) 098-7654 e-mail:john.doe@gmail.com January 4, 2010 Jane Smith, President and CEO American History Museum 4004 Any Street Hometown, TX 00004-1234 Enclosed is my resume for consideration for the Director of Programs position at the American History Museum. Based on my experience and education, I believe I possess all of the qualifications you are seeking in a candidate for this position. In my time at the History Center, I have proven to be a dynamic, motivated, and innovative leader with a commitment to community involvement and public service. I was on the team that oversaw the transition from the former Local Historical Museum to the $40 million Regional History Center, one of the largest history museums in the United States. In that time I have learned a great deal about and honed my skills in many aspects of the museum field including education, exhibits, collections, grant writing, marketing, and administration. I have also successfully authored 15 grants averaging $23,000 a year in funding and have collaborated on a majority of the grant request opportunities at the History Center. At the History Center, my major day-to-day responsibility includes managing the Education and Volunteer Departments at the History Center and directly supervising four full time Education Coordinators and a part time Managing Director who, in turn, oversee one full time and three part time employees as well as a team of 30 actors, over 100 volunteers, and various contract laborers. I have consistently led this team to meet or exceed its goals over the past seven years. In addition, I have established or overseen a number of internal committees that help the History Center more effectively manage its resources. Much of my responsibility involves interaction with the community in a variety of formats. Within the past two years, the History Center has adapted the affinity group model for board and community involvement and I was named staff liaison in charge of the following affinity and advisory groups: Education and Marketing/Public Relations, Volunteers, and the New Exhibits Advisory Committee. In addition, I have coordinated a number of workshops and seminars for adult audiences, most recently as part of a $1 million Teaching American History grant project for the local school system. I am confident my qualifications will be of interest to you and I look forward to hearing from you soon about an interview. John Doe
Date Hiring Agent Office of Human Resources To Whom It May Concern, I recently learned of the Outreach & Partnership Coordinator position from John Doe, Director of the City Heritage Area. After reading the job description, I believe my experience and skills are a perfect match for this job. Currently, I am the (current position). As, I run all aspects of the program, including developing and managing the program budget, processing reports and payments, answering public inquiries, and corresponding with current participants and program consultants. I am also responsible for all program publicity such as writing press releases and promoting the program at state, regional, and national conferences. Other aspects of my job involve organizing Advisory Committee meetings and compiling lists and statistics of the program s applicants and participants. I am very knowledgeable in Microsoft Office and I have years of experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Additionally, I am familiar with Adobe Acrobat and FileMaker Pro. As Director of the Historical Objects Museum, I worked closely with the museum s Board of Directors to create and implement an institutional plan. I also managed a small staff and a crew of volunteers. Running the museum required me to multi-task and coordinate day-to-day activities with grant projects and special events. In addition, I updated and wrote several exhibits that transformed technical text panels into exhibits that could be easily understood and enjoyed by the general public. I believe I would be a great asset to your organization as Outreach & Partnership Coordinator. I hope to hear from you to set up an interview. Please feel free to reach me at (123) 456-7890 or address@email.com if you need any additional information. Thank you for your consideration. Applicant
Date Hiring Agent Director of Human Resources Great President House Dear Sir or Madam: It is with great interest that I write to you regarding your open Director of Education position at the Great President House. I believe that I have the skills and experience you are seeking for this unique role. As the Director of Education, Exhibits, and Programs at the National History Center, I have accomplished much in a short period of time. Specifically, I have led our Education, Exhibits and Programs departments through our first strategic planning exercise in five years. Additionally, I have implemented a broad data collection process which surveys all programs, school visits, public visitors, exhibits and interpretation. My other accomplishments as Director have included co-authoring a successful $1,000,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education and scheduling a menu of mission driven travelling exhibits which have included the expansion of our changing exhibit space from 3,000 sq. ft. I am also proud of initiating a 5,000 sq. ft., $3,000,000 traveling exhibit scheduled to open in 2009. Before assuming my role as Director, I served the institution as the Interpretive Services Manger. In this role, I was responsible for developing the interpretive plan for the 150,000 sq. ft. facility which included selecting and training a corps of 70 adult and youth docents. Our interpretive program has emphasized both stationed interpreters and tours designed to fit educational state standards and public thematic tours. We have developed a training program which emphasizes history, object-based learning and dialogue. My previous experience as the site manager of a House Museum in Anywhere, USA, also emphasizes my knowledge and familiarity with material culture and how objects can be used to teach about the past societies which used them. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience. Potential Employee Current Title Current Organization
Applicant Name City, State Zip July 13, 2010 Attn: Human Resources State Historical Society Dear Madam or Sir: Please accept the enclosed résumé as an expression of interest in the Director of Education position at the State Historical Society. My current responsibilities managing the City Historical Society s (CHS) Outreach & Field Services department are similar to those detailed in the SHS Director of Education position description. I supervise two units (Classroom Services and Local History Services) with twelve full-time staff and a $1.53 million budget. Specifically, my role has been to develop and carry out CHS vision and strategic plan for outreach and field services to the state s K-16 education and local history communities. I ve also participated in institution-wide business planning, serve on the Society s editorial board, and act as liaison to several state agencies and national organizations including the State Department of Education s academic content standards committee, the American Association for State and Local History, and the Field Services Alliance. I have a strong background in conceptualizing, funding, and implementing community-based programs. In the six years I worked at CHS, I ve taken a three-year, $65,000 project and built it into the largest K-16 education and professional development program in the state, serving nearly 26,000 students, 800 teachers, and both of the state s teacher associations. The Faculty/Classrooms Services unit includes faculty professional development programs, National History Day, the State Social Studies Resource Center, the State Council for History Education, and the Congressional Academy. Most recently the State Council for the Social Studies has contracted with CHS to administer several of organization s administrative functions. My department s second unit, Local History Services, includes the state s historical markers program, the Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration, consulting, and management of the State Association of Historical Societies & Museums. Serving as the organization s Executive Secretary, I oversee the annual conference, ten regional meetings, workshops, advocacy efforts, and the organization newsletter. With only 25% of my department s budget coming from state subsidy, its programming has largely been funded through private support, contracts, fees-for-service, and federal grants. My résumé details additional accomplishments. If granted an interview I will further expand upon my strengths and experience, and how they apply to this position and SHS mission. I hope to hear from you shortly. Applicant
Jane Q. Applicant 5678 Main Street Anywhere, OH 23456 January 4, 2010 John Jones, Executive Director Mitford Historical Society Mitford, USA 20002 Dear Mr. Jones: Please accept the enclosed resume in consideration for the position of Chief Curator at the Mitford Historical Society. Based on my education and work experience, I believe I possess all the qualifications you are seeking in a candidate for this position. In my current position, I effectively manage a staff of three curators, one registrar, and two collections management assistants and rely heavily on management through coaching and mentoring. I routinely strive to work cooperatively with institutional departments, community members, and partnering organizations to develop a team approach to projects and encourage my staff to do the same. For the past eight years, I have chaired the exhibit development team for a small museum located in an urban setting. Our teams have worked quite successfully and our last two major exhibits in 2006 and 2008 won Awards of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History. Throughout the development of these exhibits, our team worked with community members and partnered with local museums, historical societies, and volunteer organizations to tell the story of our neighborhoods and community. With these exhibits as with all our work, we strove toward establishing a recognizable brand for our institution. Our team was successful at developing a greater web presence for our institution by using our collections to build online exhibits and creating accompanying K 12 education activities. In the last three years, we have utilized social media to promote visitation to both our website and facility. These activities led to an increase of 30% in visitation during the last three years. At this point in my career, I am looking for a new challenge and opportunity to grow as a professional. Your organization has a great national reputation for leading our field with innovative exhibits, interpretation, and programming. I would very much like to join the staff of your organization and contribute to the growth of the Mitford Historical Society. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to meeting with you soon to further discuss my qualifications. Jane Q. Applicant